On October 25, 2008, about 30 members of Brown Woodbrook spent the day working to come up with a list of core values. Number two on the list is love.
But what do we mean by "love?" Ideally we could summarize our definitions in two or three words. So that we will be able to say, "When BMWPC says 'love,' we mean X, Y, and Z." That kind of shorthand will help us stay focused.
While anyone is welcome to comment on the values, that intitial group of 30 will be invited explicitly to do so and share their thinking as we work toward agreed definitions of the six core values. It will be their agreement that will determine the final definitions.
In the time we spent doing initial definitions, here is what that work group came up with:
To touch the face of God
Imitating Christ
By carrying out ones life in Christ-like way
Accepting differences
Respecting Self
Tending God's creation
In addition they brainstormed the following ways to put love into action (remember that our facilitator, Denise Van Eck, urged us to think of concrete ways we could live out the core value):
1) When you see someone sitting by themselves at church, go over and sit with them.
2) Reaching out to those in need, noticing / be intentional of what others need, sick disablility, grief.
3) Meet people where they are instead of where you want them to be by being intentional in reaching out to and interacting with others.
So what do you think? What is love at BMWPC?
Find the button at the bottom and join the conversation.
NOTE: "Definitions Day" is Saturday, January 17, 9 am - noon in the Fellowship Hall at church.
1 comment:
I find it hard to come up with a better definition of love than Paul’s in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. (For the complete text, see the God’s Word Translation below.) Verse 7 is an especially clear definition for me of love. Here is Eugene Patterson’s translation of that verse:
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
At BMWPC I would like to see us love one another by celebrating the divine spark in all, nurturing that spark, safeguarding it, cherishing it, allowing it to glow, reflecting it and nourishing it. Concretely, how can we do this? By attentive listening, greeting each other with joy and compassion, being patient with each other’s foibles, taking responsibility for our own happiness and satisfaction within our congregation, showing the same respect for each other that we desire for ourselves, refrain from sarcasm or back-biting or passive-aggressive behavior, directly and honestly resolving conflict, keeping ourselves open and ready for change that may be suggested by the marginal member of our congregation, and holding ourselves lightly, allowing humor and grace to enter in.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
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I may speak in the languages of humans and of angels. But if I don't have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing cymbal. I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains. But if I don't have love, I am nothing. I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don't have love, none of these things will help me.
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn't jealous. It doesn't sing its own praises. It isn't arrogant. It isn't rude. It doesn't think about itself. It isn't irritable. It doesn't keep track of wrongs. It isn't happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.
Love never comes to an end. There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be used. There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by itself. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will no longer be used. Our knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete. But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways. Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me. So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the best one of these is love.
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